141 This page is sponsored by: the ‘King’family- Giving up doesn’t always mean you are weak ... sometimes it means you are strong enough to let go! HOCKEY U16A BACK LEFT: K Booi, A Whitelaw, D Griffiths, D Broughton, R van Aswegen, F van der Merwe, L Lillelund, C Grinyer FRONT LEFT: C Kelly, Mr K Eccles (Coach), N Ntuli, J Kirsten (Capt), Mr P Kirsten (Manager), M Last ABSENT: K Madsen U16 A At the end of the 2010 season, we knew that the U14 A team, which had had an exceptional season, would make up the bulk of the U16 A team in 2011. As par t of our long term planning it was decided to take a development team on tour with the 1st XI to Malaysia. A team of 14 players was selected including 2 grade 11 boys; Darren Johnson and Cameron Parsons, and 2 grade 10 boys James Kirsten and Kyle Madsen. Before the U16 A team left for Malaysia, 3 matches were played. The team beat DHS 6-0, drew to Hilton 2-2 and lost to Clifton. It became evident that the Kearsney players were very skilful but physically smaller than their opponents. In Malaysia the young team learnt a lot.The teams we played in Singapore and Malaysia were generally school 1st teams and they often had up to 10 players on the bench. Opposition teams generally had players of smallish stature but they were very skilful with exceptionally quick hands. The boys learnt not to dive into tackles, the impor tance of passing accurately and that success meant relying 100% on team mates.The pre-season fitness cer tainly helped the team playing in the stifling hot and humid conditions and we won 4 of the 7 matches. Our 1st match back home was against the physically strong and hard running Westville side.The lessons learnt in Malaysia paid off and we won 2-1. The team then lost narrowly to Glenwood and College having missed countless scoring oppor tunities. After an attitude adjustment, the team gelled and began to show their true potential beating St Stithians and Michaelhouse and drawing to a strong Northwood side. At the start of the season we were without a goal-keeper but with some coercion and persuasion Alex Harvey, a keen basketball player, came over to the astro and put the pads on to try a new spor t out. It became evident that with his natural ball skill combined with excellent balance and anticipation he would make a good goalkeeper. He played for the entire season, often saving crucial goals which would have affected the outcome of the game. I cer tainly hope that he continues playing next year as he has the potential to go far. While Keagan and I nearly pulled our hair out at times there were many times when the boys put into practice the drills and exercises and our plans came together…this made it all wor thwhile. Peter Kirsten and Keagan Eccles RESULTS Played: 10 Won: 4 Lost: 4 Drew: 2 HOCKEY
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